ACLU Statement in Response to Nebraska Department of Corrections Lethal Injection Announcement

Today the Nebraska Department of Corrections announced that it would use an experimental drug cocktail not previously used in the United States in an execution. The State must now wait 60 days before asking the State Supreme Court to issue a warrant for an execution.

ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad had the following reaction:

“We are horrified that the Nebraska Department of Corrections plans to use Jose Sandoval as a test subject for an untested and experimental lethal injection cocktail. This rash decision will not fix the problems with Nebraska’s broken death penalty and are a distraction from the real issues impacting Nebraska’s Department of Corrections: an overcrowded, crisis-riddled system. America is a nation turning away from the death penalty. More and more states are seeing that ending capital punishment means improving public safety. Fiscal conservatives, faith leaders and public safety officials are increasingly leading efforts to replace the death penalty.

“The ACLU will continue to discuss the state’s misguided plan with experts locally and nationally and evaluate the grave constitutional, legal and policy questions associated with this untested protocol.”